NerdWallet’s annual points valuations, updated October 21, carry a number that should end every hoarding debate: Marriott Bonvoy points dropped to 0.7 cents each after the program’s 2026 devaluation – while American’s AAdvantage miles climbed to 1.7 cents and Hyatt held its industry-leading 1.8 cents. Same hobby, three different fates. The lesson repeats until it sticks: points are a currency with no central bank, and the only winning strategy is earn and burn.
The inflation problem nobody signs up for
Every point you’ve ever earned was worth the most the day it posted. Programs devalue without warning, without grandfathering, and without apology – Marriott holders learned that again this year. A balance you’re “saving for something special” is a bet that the program’s pricing won’t change before you use it, and that bet has lost every single year for a decade. The miles that gained value this year – American, Alaska, Southwest – gained only because cash fares rose 26% while award charts moved slower. That’s not a reason to hold miles; it’s a reason to redeem them while the gap exists.
The burn rules that actually work
- Redeem at or above the benchmark. The new valuations are the floor, not the target: if an AAdvantage redemption prices below 1.7 cents per mile, pay cash and keep the miles for a redemption that beats it. The math is thirty seconds: divide the cash price by the miles required.
- Keep 90 days of plans, not 900,000 points. Earn toward a named trip with approximate dates. A balance with a destination attached is a plan; a balance without one is an unhedged position in someone else’s currency.
- Transfer only at the moment of booking. Flexible points (Chase, Amex, Bilt, Citi, Capital One) hold value precisely because they haven’t been converted yet. The Hyatt transfer-ratio cuts this month and the Asia Miles freeze last week are the same lesson in different outfits: once points become miles, they inherit every risk the program can invent.
- Watch the strong programs, not just the weak ones. Hyatt held 1.8 cents even as Chase and Bilt moved to cut their transfer ratios to it. When the banks pay more for a currency, the currency reprices eventually. High-value programs are where the next devaluation lives.
Earn aggressively, burn deliberately, and never let a balance get old enough to have an opinion about. The best redemption is rarely the next one – it’s this one.
— Source: NerdWallet, “How Points and Miles Values Changed in 2026,” updated October 21, 2026.